Oakland has a lot of strange, poorly-designed pedestrian signals, but we think we’ve found the worst example in the City at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Euclid Avenue. By over-engineering a simple sidewalk, Oakland has created a more hazardous condition where thousands of people break the law every day. Along Grand Avenue at Euclid…

The City of Oakland recently unveiled a new pedestrian signal policy intended to streamline the implementation of more pedestrian-friendly intersections. We’ve written at length about how Oakland’s implementation of automobile-oriented traffic signals threatens its walkability. As the City has switched from pretimed to actuated signals, pedestrian circulation has often been an afterthought. In essence, new…

Crossing the street in Oakland’s Rockridge District just got a lot more difficult due to “improvements” by the City’s traffic engineers. Along College Avenue, one of Oakland’s most walkable streets, the city recently changed the configuration of several traffic signals, dramatically lengthening the amount of time it takes to lawfully cross the street. Eric Fischer,…

Technically, you are supposed to walk your bike in a crosswalk. But even if you are riding your bike in the crosswalk, that is no excuse for a negligent driver to hit you in the crosswalk. And, even if the police officer notes that you were riding your bicycle in the crosswalk that does not…

The City of Berkeley has taken a step toward improving pedestrian safety at a deadly intersection, but continues to mishandle its broader approach to street safety. Last April, Joseph Luft was killed while crossing Sacramento Street at Bancroft Way. Luft, a 98 year old Berkeley resident, was a WWII veteran and former psychology professor at…

For the vast majority of people, signal timing is not an exciting subject. Apart from traffic engineers and a select group of superwonks, few people pay attention to or advocate for better signal timing. Whereas the physical designs (and deficiencies) of streets are tangible, signal timing is less discernible. It’s not uncommon for communities to…

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: street safety is about equity. Streets designed for speeding cars are inherently designed dangerously, leaving people who do not drive at higher risk of getting hit and killed. We already know that children, seniors, and people of color make up a disproportionately high share of pedestrian…

Crosswalk countdown signals are an increasingly common tool to inform pedestrians precisely how much time they have to cross the street. The idea behind these signals is that pedestrians are less likely to cross during the flashing “Don’t Walk” phase if they know there are only a few seconds left before the light turns red….